Opinion

As the race for Abia Government House 2023 continues to gather momentum, with winning the argument for power shift back to Abia North Senatorial Block, it is imperative to begin to consider the who are our frontline aspirants from which the best could be selected after the Hen had come home to roost. Presently, Abia state is in a miserable condition of health. Abia State has suffered in terms of bad governance, underdevelopment and lack of political will for change.

Foremost, let me state equivocally that my purpose hereof is neither to disparage any past or present leader of Abia State, nor to throw tantrums and squawk like some bitten toddler, but to emphasize the fact that whatever choices we make again from 2023 going forward is determinant of our readiness or otherwise, to change Abia for the best or continue to languish in hush grumble of another lost opportunity, ad infinitio.

Only a child born yesterday will need to be convinced to agree that Abia needs a touch of experience, executable ideas, and the political willpower to drive such change that will refocus, reinvent and reposition Abia State for the required progress and developmental angles.

In this light, therefore, please permit me to insist that in as much as we are clamoring for Governor of Ohafia extraction in upholding of the principles of Equity that has kept Abia at relative peace since 1999, I am at the same time opposed to sending anyone to Government House Umuahia to waste another precious year of  Abia State people which ultimately will further draw us back. I am certain that posterity will not judge us fairly for such an error of commission.

It is on this note that I enjoin other Ohafians to look at their pursuit from the prism of reality and hope for a dying and comatose Abia state yearning for emergency rescue in 2023.

It will not be subject to argument that Chief Dr Chdia Maduekwe (Ishinka Ohafia) is the man with the most requisite experience, exposure, antecedent, pedigree and political willpower and clout required to effect change as he has always done through the past years of his frequent assignments at other national duties. It is also noteworthy that in as much as many may be chasing political clout of fresh appearance on the political scene with the “Governor” insignia, Chidia Maduekwe has gone beyond the stage of suddenness as a political duty- man. He won the election to Represent the then Ohafia Federal Constituency as far back as 1991; he has held many appointments at the federal level as a technocrat and brought so many developments to his people both within the private and public sphere of influence at all times, even presently. He had in the past known to have turned around moribund agencies of the federal government into fertile and sudden sought-after agencies. He is not coming to impress having littered his political trajectories with his laudable and palpable monumental community care projects; he is coming to rejuvenate and reinvent our dear but currently near-comatose Abia State as a medical practitioner who is vested with the art of healing and restoration as a trained medical doctor from the prestigious Ibadan Medical School – UCH. His contract with Abia people is one premised on Good Governance that Abia has been bereft of, banking on a non opaque administration predicated on accountability and people-oriented, purposeful leadership.

Dr. Chidia remains the man whose initiative as a medical doctor (as a technocrat) brought his pet medical project “Kesandu Rural Mobile Medical Scheme -KRUMM SCHEME to people who ordinarily were not reachable through orthodox health practices and Hospitals. With his mobile  teams he availed every community of medical attention assisted by his foreign doctors. ( German Nationals) based on then Nigerian -German Technical aid protocol agreement of 1981. Some of these hospitals later metamorphosed into present day community health centres.

It is noteworthy also, to recollect that it was Dr Chidia Maduekwe that attracted and facilitated the establishment of the Federal Government College Ebem – Ohafia, of course, that too had to come with a price based on the choice of choosing between UBEC Contract worth millions or a school for his people, he chose the federal government school, not minding his kids and immediate family members were never going to be the  beneficiaries. Such is a man that must not be overlooked.

Fast forward to the present day. It is only a worthy ambassador of his state,  community and  geopolitical region that will further attract and ensure that the national budgetary appropriation of a Southeast zonal Headquarters of a federal agency that eluded the South East geopolitical zone for the past 20 years is realized starting with the 2021 budget cycle. The groundbreaking ceremony of Nigeria Film Cooperation at Asaga Ohafia is a test of the pedigree of the man in question.

I have observed to my dismay that many always adjourn leaders as stingy when they don’t put the people’s money on the table for everyone to pick a bundle at the detriment of the collective bargaining of the people, but when a leader like Dr. Chdia Maduekwe is always in the habit of channeling public funds towards attracting projects that will benefit the entire people, the purveyors of our collective patrimony appreciates him. No wonder the council of OHAFIA monarchs honored him with the rare title of ISHINKA OHAFIA – which stands for a man of valour and creativity. This is to say that Abia at this point needs a man that is not coming to chase clout and please purveyors. We don’t need a man with untested political esoteric fresh ideas and theories but a man with political pragmatism to turn around the numerous potential pitfalls prevalent in contemporary Abia.

In his recent interview, Dr Chidia expanded how to generate 170,000 jobs from security votes within his first 18 months on the saddle. It is certainly not rocket science as explained. He is the man that has turned barren NFC into a front-burner agency as a reputably frequently  Googled agency which earned him a second tenure re-appointment three months before the expiration of his first term. Recall that as a pioneer federal Commissioner at Federal Character Commission, he left impressive records, which staff still refer to when engaged in the small chit chart. His presence at other places just to mention but a few such as Boundary Community Development Agency -BCDA where he represented the south East geopolitical zone, Member governing board of Federal Medical Center Markudi and Governing Council member National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies -NIPSS, Kuru and many others speaks volumes about his preparedness to hit the ground running if we offer him the mandate to restore Abia back to life in agreement with his often laid out slogan of “ NKAA G’ EME, Kanyi Kesandu”. Need we look further?

Without further ado, I want to insist that if the Ohafia4Gov project must be actualized, we must insist on the very best because I am sure that just like us, every Abia needs a paradigm shift in the affairs of the State from the usual descent into deplorable despondency to exhilarating expectancy.

Comr Amos Kalu is a political analyst, social media influencer and advocate of Abia Good Governance. He writes from Abuja.